1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to piezoelectric lighters, and more particularly to a piezoelectric lighter having a safety device for normally locking the pusher cap thereof so as to prevent the lighter from being ignited either accidentally or by children.
2. Description of Related Arts
Most accidental fires are started by the ignorant usage of cigarette lighters. In order to prevent the lighter from ignition accidentally or by a child, the conventional lighter may employ a safety device which includes a lock member for deterring depression of the actuating lever. Since the lock member is manually movable between a locked position and a released position, the lock member tends to stay at the released position without a manual recovery from the released position to the initial locked position after the use of the lighter, whereby the safety device remains unlocked. Leaving the lock member at the released position permits the actuating lever to be depressed, rendering the safety device inoperable. Specifically then, to ensure safety, the existing safety devices always require a manual re-locking operation after every use of the lighter. Hence, there should be expected further improvements of the lock mechanism in terms of safety.
To solve the drawbacks set forth above, there have been proposed a safety mechanism having a lock member to impede the depression of the actuating lever. Such safety mechanism provides an auto return function, wherein the lock member automatically returns to the locked position in response to the ignition when it is operated after the lock member has been manually moved to the released position. However, the operation of this safety mechanism is unreliable because of a probability that the lock member will return to the locked position by its own reactive force, which is due to the resilience of the material constituting the lock member. This adverse result affects the ease of releasing the lock mechanism in a lighter, which is generally operated with a single finger, e.g. the thumb, and leads to different operational results depending on the users. Therefore, safety mechanism of this type can be considered disadvantageous in practical use.
As can be seen from the above description, conventional safety lighters have drawbacks in practical use, and hence there has been a demand for a childproof safety lighter which is improved in both safety and operability.
Further, in manufacturing such safety lighters, it is required to rationalize the assembling steps, to improve assembling accuracy, to enhance the handling of the safety device, and to reduce the manufacturing cost.